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Trade shows are an exciting time when industry leading companies and experts come together under one roof to promote their offerings. Yet, they can be challenging to market to prospects who may be interested in the information as many trade shows are advertised in limited groups. Trade shows can be expensive and time consuming to market because they are oftentimes huge events involving large groups of vendors all competing for business.

However, social media tools such as Facebook have become a cost effective and useful method to invite others who are not directly related to trade show publications. This makes Facebook a great way to draw attention to upcoming trade shows, months in advance, across multiple online networks. Here’s how to start using Facebook for trade show marketing.

Create a branded, group Facebook page for the trade show network.

Your very first step as a social media marketer is to develop an actual group page on Facebook that displays the trade show information in all its blazing glory. You’ll want to develop a nice header image and a logo that tells others in an instance what your trade show is about and how it can benefit attendees. The idea is to stand out from other trade show producers by developing an online brand that captures the essence of your industry and your expertise as a trade show manager.

Integrate the Facebook page with other advertising methods.

Once you have your Facebook group page established, you can then start sharing it with all of your networks. A good way to do this is to add a Facebook button to all your other marketing materials, like your website, your print promotional items, and even letters you send out to potential vendors. If you run radio or television ads, make sure to mention you are on Facebook and to follow you for exclusive updates.

Schedule vendor events prior to the trade show date.

Facebook is an ideal platform for creating trade show events and inviting others to learn more. Take the time to plan events months in advance with a monthly vendor webinar to explain the benefits and opportunities at the trade show. Offer special deals that are exclusive for participants, such as reduced table fees and marketing premiums. Create a buzz around upcoming trade show events and ask your social followers to share with those who may be interested in being part of your network.

Use the Facebook page to share trade show information and images.

In addition to the other methods you use to advertise your trade show events, your Facebook page is the ideal place to share lots of exclusive information, imagery, and offers to your followers. Post at least daily about your trade shows, how successful they are, what vendors are attending, and your focus on building quality events for businesses to launch their offerings. Get in front of your market through strategic posts by region and industry.

Any trade show can benefit from exposure on Facebook as well as other forms of social media promotions. Take the time to develop a brand across all your marketing methods, but be sure that you share your Facebook account to draw the right people to your events.

About the Author: Thomas has been writing about trade show topics for companies like Nimlok Online for more than a decade. When not writing, you can find Paul at home with his family or training at the gym for his next triathlon.

It was a beautiful sunny day when I walked into work, but by noon I was drenched to the skin. Which was bad enough, but my desk drawer was a doll swimming pool and as for the computer, I was sure it was ruined. The entire office staff ended up outside in the sun wringing water out of our hair and suits. You’d think such a thing could only happen if a tornado came through, taking the roof off the building or shattering all the windows. Certainly none of us could have predicted such a heavy downpour on a day without so much as a wisp of cloud. It happened, though.

Take a Step Back

I should start at the beginning, I suppose. It wasn’t really an ordinary day anyway. It was bring your child to work day, intended to interest kids in what their parents do for a living and give them career ideas. The noise level was much higher than usual when I came in, all the kids were chattering and being shown around the office. I went straight to my desk, not having a child of my own to bring in yet. Things settled down slowly as parents took their offspring back to desks and started explaining what they actually did all day. There were scattered complaints of boredom. The questions of how grown ups could stand to do this every day that triggered stifled snickers from the nonparents in the office. Looking back we should have been paying more attention to the bored kids.

How Does That Work?

Actually it was only one bored kid that caused the trouble. Eleven-year-old Tom, who was with his dad in the cubicle next to mine, was to the point of kicking his feet on the cubicle wall and asking about the fire extinguishers and the sprinklers in the ceiling. I took advantage of his trip to the bathroom to make a call without the background complaints. My phone call was interrupted by the shriek of the fire alarm. Startled I looked up to see Tom balancing carefully on the corner of an empty cubicle by the door. He was holding a wad of flaming toilet paper and towels from the bathroom right underneath an emergency sprinkler. I wasn’t the only one to notice him right about then. I heard Tom’s dad shout his name with all the force an angry parent can summon. Tom dropped the still flaming blob of burning tissue and lost his balance.

Not Part of Manufacturer Specifications

In his panic Tom grabbed for the nearest thing available to try and keep his balance. Unfortunately that happened to be the sprinkler hanging from the ceiling. Tom’ s feet slid off the cubicle walls and he dangled for a few seconds before he came down. The sprinkler was still clutched in his hands. Water gushed from where the sprinkler had been. Apparently the system took that to mean that there was a true emergency and all the sprinklers in the building came on. Everyone grabbed for jackets or files to as a shield against the deluge, hitting the off switch on anything electrical before dashing for the exits. I helped Tom’s dad carry him outside with the rest of the evacuation. His fall had snapped his ankle.

Roll Cameras

I don’t know how the local news station heard about it but there was a shot that night of everyone out on the lawn looking like drowned kittens. The headline was Water Damage, Cincinnati Office Eye of the Storm. Both the company president and Tom’s father refused interviews. It took several weeks to get the office dried out and back to normal. The next year the boss neglected to announce bring your child to work day. He banned Tom from the building for life, though. By Heidi Grover

Bio

Heidi Grover often writes about mishaps at work. She always gets nervous on bring your child to work day. She has sent recommendations to engineers about designing emergency sprinklers that will hold a person’s weight. She also writes on behalf of clients like Water Damage, Cincinnati.

Trademark serves the purpose of indicating that products and services offered by an individual or a business organization are unique and different from those offered by other entities. A trademark is often accompanied by symbols such as TM, SM and a circled R. While TM indicates that the trademark is an unregistered one used for promoting the goods, SM promotes services. Circled R indicates that the trademark is registered. Coming to the form of trademark, it can be anything such as a name, logo, design, symbol, image or any combination of these. Some other trademarks are different from these and are based on abstract qualities such as color, sound and smell.

Most of the countries require a formal registration for the usage of trademark and the owners of these registered trademarks can initiate the legal proceedings against the person who made unauthorized usage of it. However some countries like USA and Canada do provide protection to those trademarks that are widely in use but not registered. Though most of the times mark, logo and brand are used as synonyms to trademark, there are many other things that can be used as trademarks. For example, the shape of a good, or its package, sound, smell, color or anything that can distinguish a product or service from that of others can be used as trademark. The trademarks also have some specialized types such as certification marks, defensive trademarks and collective trademarks.

Origin

The origin of the trademark can be found in the Roman Empire where blacksmiths used trademarks to distinguish the swords made by them from others. Another important trademark that can be quoted here is Lowenbrau’s lion mark which is use since 1383. The above two are the examples for unregistered trademarks. The other type known as the registered trademarks are those registered with the government of a respective country. In UK, the first registered trademark was used by Bass Brewery. Their trademark included a red triangle with the words “Bass” written under it. This was the first registered trademark registered under Trade Mark Registration Act, 1875. In US, a rope making company by name Samson had the first trademark in 1884 which is in use by that company even today.

Proprietary Rights

Trademark can be considered as a property as per the law and one can acquire proprietary rights to it either by using it in the market place or by registering it with the trademarks office. However, the trademarks in use are not protected under all jurisdictions and also the owners of them cannot make proceedings against those involved in trademark infringement. Often in these kinds of disputes, the verdict will be in the favor of those who filed the complaint first instead of those who started using it first. However in some countries like Germany, protection is available to the unregistered trademarks to certain extent only when the products and services are quite known in the market or occupies a significant market share of more than 40 percent.

Registration

Registering a required trademark involves various steps the first of which is applying for it. The application is then placed for scrutiny by the examination attorney only in the order in which the applications are received. The application is then checked for the fulfillment of requirements and also the required trademark is checked if it similar to the already existing trademarks in any manner. Then the application will be published welcoming any opposition from the third parties affected by it. The Trademark Trail and Appeal Board will decide if the case filed by the opposition is valid or not. In case no such opposition arises within the time period allowed for it, the applicant will get the required trademark registered.

Even before forwarding the application, the individual or the organization can search if the required trademark is already registered by anyone from the database of registered trademarks maintained by the concerned authority which is USPTO in case of the US. Often it is advised to go to take the assistance of licensed attorney while searching for the trademarks that are already registered. In many jurisdictions, the proprietary rights associated with the trademark expire if it is not used for a long period of five years.

It has been a tough couple of years out on the high street. We are still managing to survive yet we have had to make some changes into how we operate. Cutting back on spending has been our focus along with improving our sales through marketing, excellent customer service and reliable products. One of the ways we have managed to keep trading while others around us have closed is by being flexible and making cutbacks, such as moving into a cheaper property.

Moving to a smaller shop was never going to be easy for us but it was a step we needed to make in order to keep our doors open. The reduced cost in utility bills and rent have meant we could afford to cut back on our prices to keep serving the customers excellent quality goods while they also struggle to keep their heads above water. It’s a war out on the high street but one that can be won with careful planning and even more careful spending.

The Doorway Caused Instant Problems

Sadly when we moved to the new premises we noticed that there were some problems that needed to be fixed right away. The door to the shop was a huge problem as it was small with a step up to it. We serve items to everyone and there is no way we want to turn anyone away from our store so we had to address the issue of access so that all our customers, new and old, would be able to enter and exit the shop without any problems. The door was a problem and so we set about sorting it out right away.

We contacted some access consultants and spoke to our landlord. Thankfully the agent was more than willing to help us to make improvements. We were given permission to replace the door and add a small ramp to the exterior of the property. The landlord even chipped in with some of the costs which was not something that we were expecting to happen.

Why go to so much Trouble?

Why did we go to the trouble of sorting out the access? You may think we were silly spending our money that we didn’t need to while making cutbacks everywhere else. When you think about it carefully it does make perfect sense. We make our living by selling to the public. Our product range includes items for men and women of all ages, so we have to be able to welcome men and women into our store. Without them we can’t make sales, which would result in us having to close down and only focus on online sales.

The new doorway and ramp now meant that everyone had the ability to access our store. People that use wheelchairs, mobility scooters, mums with pushchairs and prams and anyone else who might have problems with a small door and a step can now come and go without any problems. The door only needs a slight nudge for it to then open on its own, meaning it’s easy for everyone to open. Shoppers overloaded with bags don’t have to battle with the door anymore!

Your Customers are Your Lifeline

Providing excellent customer service includes welcoming people from all walks of life into your shop. Investing in making your property more accessible makes perfect sense. We saw an increase in footfall immediately and all of our old customers who couldn’t access our new shop were thrilled that we went to the effort to welcome them in. A simple change to the entrance can result in a dramatic rise in sales, something worth considering I think you’ll agree.

Aki Hashimoto specialises in writing, providing DDA Audit and disabled access news to businesses in the UK. Find out more by following @EqualityAct2010 on Twitter.

In this article, we will explain the physical windows system conversion into virtual machine using VMware Converter step by step:

Start the VMware Convertor. Click the import machine button. As we are going to convert a Physical Windows System machine to Virtual machine, specify the source type as Physical Computer, in source login, select this local machine and in source data step select the drive.

2. In the next step of the Virtual Machine Name and Location Page of VMware Convertor Import Wizard, provide the virtual machine Name and click on browse button to specify the path where this machine will be saved. An easier way it to try to choose a network location , for instance the folders made with the name of Virtual Machines on the platform on which VMware Hosting server is implemented ( e.g. newly created Linux / Ubuntu device )

3. Under the type of virtual machine to create: select Workstation 5. X or VMware Server or VMware Player and click on Next:

4. In case the desired destination directory is protected with a password, you have to provide the credentials like username and password.

5. In the next step of VM Options Page it asks you how would you like to create and use your disk, a nice option is to select is “allow virtual disk file”:

6. As you click on next on VM Options step, VMware Converter checks some settings:

7. On the Networks Page of Wizard method, configure various network preferences for the virtual machine as shown.

8. In the Modification stage you are able to do few customizations, however it’s not essential. In that case check out Next :

9. At the Ready to Complete Page, validate every preference once more , when these are fine, decide to click Finish :

10. The conversion process will start which will several hours depending upon the host machine speed, so please be patient.

11. Following screen appears after the conversion is finished:

12. To examine the information of the conversion, you might click on the activity progress tab.

13. Get started with Your Virtual Machine

Next check out the machine on the server where VMware Hosting server is present, e .g. Your current Linux PC or perhaps another Windows 7 laptop.

(Manuals for setting up VMware Hosting server on Debian Sarge as well as Ubuntu Dapper Drake are available over the Internet)

Import the Windows XP Virtual system into your current VMware Hosting server, then start this machine. Assuming everything proceeds properly, the Windows desktop will appear in VMware Hosting server:

14. A windows desktop screen will appears after windows loading is finished.

15. You can use this window virtual machine over the server just like your physical machine.

As 2013 rears its head you may want to start thinking about revamping your loyalty marketing program. Really take the time to see what worked in terms of profitability, customer satisfaction and customer retention. Clearly identify the weak links. Find out what part of your loyalty marketing is making little to no impact on your business. Then take the time to consider what can change. Here are some ways to boost your CRM for the next year.

Social Integration

If you haven’t included social media into your loyalty program, it is time to really evaluate how you can. Find out which social media channels fit into your overall program. Facebook is a great tool for many companies but might not be the right one for yours. It may even do some damage. Really take a look at all the options that will naturally fit your brand by identifying what your core customers already use.

Cleanup Your Look

It is important to balance evolution with consistency in your loyalty program. Don’t stay stagnant for too long because other companies are sure enough changing their look every year. Every year you should polish up your website, add new elements and fine-tune your program’s colors. This can lead to a whole new program for re-engagement and offer you benefits into the next year.

Cut Your Losses

Make the holiday season your last ditch effort to push inactive members to re-activate or reinvest. If you haven’t seen or heard from them by January, cut your losses. Use your time and energy getting new customers who will generate revenue.

Review Your Goals

Take a look at your bottom line and see if your goals are what your company needs. This may involve a huge overhaul in your company’s CRM but will yield terrific results in the next year. Often taking a look at the building blocks of your loyalty program can really help you identify its weaknesses.

Experiment

Although you may have a solid program base where customers know how things work, it may be time to shake thing s up a bit. Experiment with subtle changes to see what really hits a nerve with your customers. It could be anything from a new benefit or a simple “Thank You.” Test on a small group of customers and see what works and what they appreciate. If you get any feedback, negative or positive, you’ll be more aware of what your customers like.

Just because you’re running an internet business and not meeting your customers face to face, it doesn’t mean good service is unimportant. On the contrary, with so little to distinguish between so many faceless online operators, giving your customers something positive to remember you by is absolutely essential. But what can you do to make sure your customers recommend rather than forget you? Here are five ideas to give your business a boost!

1. Make sure they know what they’re getting

Buying online is not the same as buying in a shop: you can’t pick the item up, read the box, check the size or colour or ask the sales assistant for advice. Unless it’s a widely available product which people can find out about elsewhere, you’re going to be the only source of information they have. And, of course, if they have to go looking for information elsewhere, they’re just as likely to buy elsewhere – probably more so! Last but not least, make the description accurate, because if your customers don’t get what they’re expecting, they’ll just return the item. Then you really will be out of pocket, as you’ll not only have to refund the cost of their purchase, but you’ll still have to pay delivery charges both ways.

2. Offer them an incentive

People like to feel they’re getting a bargain – check the prices of your competitors and make sure you’re competitive; offer quantity discounts to encourage people to spend more; you could even give away a free gift with every order – it doesn’t have to be an expensive one, but it’s the sort of thing people remember!

3. Keep them informed

Make sure people know the status of their order at each stage of the process. Send an email to confirm you’ve received it, with an estimate of when you’re likely to dispatch their purchase. Send another email when you do dispatch, so they’ll know when it’s likely to get to them, also telling them whether they’ll need to be at home to sign for it.

4. Deliver to them safely and on time

You may not be making the actual delivery yourself, but you’ll still be held responsible if it goes wrong. Find a reliable courier that you can trust to make your deliveries on time and to treat your goods with respect. Good quality packaging materials are also important – even the most careful courier can’t guard against every eventuality. Going for the cheapest option in either case will nearly always be a false economy, because the money you’ve saved will soon be dwarfed by the lost sales and replacement costs incurred by a lost or damaged delivery.

5. Ask them to provide feedback

There are many places where your customers can tell the world about the service you’ve provided. If you’re selling on Amazon, for instance, you’ll probably already know what a positive effect a good rating can have on your sales. If you get a bad review, don’t ignore it – a well-handled complaint can make as good an impression as a perfect transaction, because it shows you care what your customers think. Other sites like Trustpilot are also good for generating positive word of mouth about your business, while social media sites allow you to engage with customers and let them know about new products and special offers.

About the Author: Dave Smith is lead copywriter and blogger at Davpack packaging suppliers. At the time of writing, Davpack has a lifetime rating of 96% on Amazon and a 97% rating on Trustpilot.

A controversial January article from Daily Caller, which was picked up by Fox News, has been quietly scrubbed from both outlets’ websites. By Alex Kasprak – On 27 January 2017, the Daily Caller’s then-video editor Matt Raust penned a short piece (“Here’s A Reel Of Cars Plowing Through Protesters Trying To Block The Road”) that featured a compilation […] […]

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by CHANIE KIRSCHNER – You wouldn’t want to ruin the taste of your coffee by keeping it out in the open air, would you? (Photo: tka4ko/Shutterstock) We’ve been on a road trip visiting family the last month, and it’s always interesting for me to see how people store the same items in different ways. Take […]